Fitzgibbon now highest-scoring forward

Sydney Roosters captain Craig Fitzgibbon became the highest scoring forward in premiership history as his side put a massive dent in the NRL finals hopes of Penrith at CUA Stadium.

The Roosters won 40-20 with Fitzgibbon passing David Furner's record of 1218 points by converting winger Sam Perrett's third try in the 64th minute after beginning the match four points behind the Canberra forward.

"It's great to get it even more so because we won," Fitzgibbon said.

"They're the sort of things when I guess I've finished playing I'll look back on and it will sink in a whole lot more then.

"At the moment it's hard to sit back end enjoy what you're doing, you've got to turn up again next week.

"I really admired David Furner as a players so it's an honour to take the record from him.

"He actually called me last week to wish me all the best for it."

Roosters coach Ricky Stuart, who played with Furner, paid tribute to both forwards.

"They play a lot of football and to be able to be a goalkicker as well is a very difficult task," Stuart said.

"There's a lot of defence and a lot of work you've got to do during the game , then you've got to come out and kick goals."

Fitzgibbon has now scored 1222 points from 33 tries and 545 goals in a career which began with the Illawarra Steelers in 1998.

The win was also the Roosters' 999th first grade triumph in the club's 99-year history.

Both sides threw the ball around with the Roosters looking the more relaxed side.

As a result, they scored seven tries to three with Perrett bagging a hat-trick with touchdowns in the seventh, 56th and 63rd minutes.

Stuart said the best part of the victory was watching the development of his youngsters, nominating replacement Jamie Soward and Perrett as two of his best.

"Seeing the younger players enjoy themselves out there tonight and play very well (was the best thing)," he said.

"It's a real good win coming out here playing Penrith who are playing for their season, to make the eight, was a really big ask for us."

Stuart admitted it had been difficult to keep the side motivated once its finals ambitions had come to an end.

"It is difficult, I must admit, to keep the boys motivated towards the end of the season but we've got a couple of guys leaving the club, the younger players are motivating themselves," he said.

Penrith, along with Cronulla and North Queensland, could find itself four points outside the eight by the end of the weekend after completing an embarrassing double - losing to the NRL's bottom two sides, South Sydney and the Roosters, in successive weeks.

"We've just got to play out the season, see what happens," coach John Lang said.

"I wasn't disappointed with our boys ... I think the result was their good play, not our bad play."

Down 16-14 at the break, the Panthers regained the lead in the fifth minute of the second half after hooker Luke Priddis caught the defence napping from a penalty tap and dived over.

But three Roosters' tries in seven minutes, two to Perrett and one to halfback Josh Lewis, had the Panthers' season looking shaky at 34-20.

Soward capped the impressive attacking display from the Roosters with a solo 50m try in the 79th minute.